Stapling mechanism



C. G. QUICK ET AL STAPLING MECHANISM Aug. 13,1940.

Filed Feb. 22, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet J,

Aug. 13, 1940. c. G. QUICK ET AL STAPLING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 3Filed Feb. 22, 1938 ATTORNEY 1940- c. a. QUICK El AL 221L027 STAPLINGMECHANISM Filed Feb. 22, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lllllllllllll llllIllllllllillllllllKHIIII ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 13, 1940 UNITED STATES2,211,022 I STAPLING mncnamsm' Cecil George Quick and Reginald wimamFowler,

London, England, assignors to B. Hoe & Co.

Inc., York New York, N. Y., a corporation of New Application February22, 1938, Serial No. 191,846

In Great Britain '7 Claims.

lengths to constitute multi-sheet products with the sheets fastened toone another, the uniting of the two webs can be effected either, by astapling mechanism which operates to insert staples through theassociated webs while they are moving, the staples being clenched over,or by a pasting mechanism which applies a line of paste to a web along aline at which another web is to be joined to it.

Moreover, the line along which the webs are united may be eithertransverse to the direction of travel of the webs or in the samedirection as the direction of travel, the'first being known commonly asa transverse join and the second as a 20 longitudinal join.

In the usual stapling mechanism there is provided what is generallytermed a stapling cylinder which takes a length of staple wire, andtraverses it through a horn operatingto bend the wire to 25 provide astem part and two leg parts which project radially from the cylinder andare caused gradually to penetrate the webs as the legs of the staplesare caused by the rotation of the cylinder to approach a second or diecylinder between 30 which and the stapling cylinder the webs pass, thedie cylinder operating to roll or turn over the staple legs whichproject through the webs.

The stapling mechanism as heretofore commonly employed has been found inpractice limited so for use in making a stapled transverse join, for ithas been found that such stapling mechanism will not operate to insert alongitudinal staple possibly for the reason that a longitudinal staplewould (in the rotation of the stapling cylinder) 4 present first one legand then slightly later, the other leg to the webs and moreover whilethe clenching of one leg would have to be effected by rolling one leg inthe same direction as that in which the stapling cylinder rotating, the

45 clenching of the other leg would have to be effected by rolling theother leg in the opposite direction to that .of the cylinder. It may beobserved that these conditions do not occur in a transverse staplingoperation as (since the sta- 50 ple is transverse) both legs arepresented together to the webs and the clenching operation is effectedon both legs in a direction transverse to the direction of movement ofthe webs. Whatever be the cause, the known stapling mechanism was It notused for longitudinal stapling, and in cases February 26, 1937 where itwas necessary to make a longitudinal join the pasting mechanism had tobe resorted to to apply a longitudinal line of paste. This pastingmechanism was, however, unsatisfactory, largely on account of the natureof paste and in 5 some cases, where it would have been more con venientto make a longitudinal join, steps were taken, to enable the staplingmechanism to be employed to permit the join to be made transversely bythe staple. The principal object of the present invention is to enable astapling mechanism to effect a longitudinal stapling operation soavoiding the necessity for employing a pasting mechanism when alongitudinal join is required.

According to the present invention, a preformed staple is carried into aposition with its legs directed towards but not in contact with the websto be stapled and is moved through a path which will temporarily bringit to rest (or substantially to rest) with respect to the continuouslymoving webs and a clenching or die member. At this time the legs of thestaple are forced through the webs and rolled over or clenched by thedie. It will be apparent that since at the stapling operation the webs,.the die and the staple are at rest (or substantially so) the'staplingoperation, although effected on continuously moving webs, will in itsoperation approximate to the operation of a normal stationary staplingmachine so avoiding the difllculties due to the se'- quentialpenetration of the legs of the staple and also that due to the directionof clenching the legs as compared with the direction of movement of thewebs. In carrying out the invention there is provided what may be termeda stapling cylinder which carries a preformed staple from astaple-forming position into a position adjacent a second or diecylinder rotating in the opposite direction to the 40 stapling cylinder,the staple being held in the stapling cylinder with its legs more orless radial but not projecting beyond the periphery of the cylinder. Atthe time when-the staple is (by the rotation of the stapling cylinder)nearest the die cylinder, the staple is substantially at rest withrespect to the die'cylinder and also with respect to the webs which passbetween the two cylinders. At this time, the staple is forced radiallyoutwards of the stapling cylinder and the legsof the staple togetherpenetrate the webs and are together turned over or clenched by the diecylinder.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings in whichFigure 1 is an end elevation, Figure 2 a section on the line 11-11Figure 3, Figure 3 a section on the line III-III Figure .2, Figure 4 adetail view and Figure 5 an assembly to a smaller scale.

In the drawings I indicates a staple forming cylinder, 2 a staplingcylinder and 3 a die cylinder. Wire from a wire feed mechanism M is fedto between the cylinders I and 2 which co-operate to form staples fromthe wire and the cylinder 2 carries round the preformed staple andpunches it through webs W passing between itself and the die cylinder 3.

The cylinder I is secured to a shaft 5 supported in bearings 6 androtated in an anti-clockwise direction. This cylinder is recessed toreceive two diametrally opposed staple forming plungers 1, 8 which canslide radially in the cylinder. The plungers 1, 8 are pivotallyconnected by links 8, I0 to the arms II, I2 of bell crank levers pivotedat I3, I4 to the cylinder and the other arms IS, IS of these bell cranklevers are connected by a link I1 which passes through guides I8 on ablock I9 secured to the end of the shaft 6. There are also provided camfollowers 28, 2I which engage a cam ring 22 secured to a fixed plate 23and the cam ring is providedwith cam surfaces constituted by a blockhaving a projection 24 and a block having a recess 25 which is theobverse of the projection. When the shaft 6 is rotated the cylinder I isrotated and with it theplungers 1, 8. The followers 28, 2I bear againstthe cam ring 22 and once in each rotation one follower (say the follower2|) engages the projection 24 and at the same time the other follower 20registers with the recess 25. The projection causes the bell crank leverI2, I6 to rock in a clockwise direction and the mating recess permitsthe other bell crank lever I I, I6 to rock in an anti-clockwisedirection and then very shortly after the reverse action occurs, thefollower 2I riding down the projection under the urge of the side wallof the recess 25 acting on the follower 20. By this means the plunger 8will be caused quickly to be projected from the periphery of thecylinder and backagain, and as the cylinder I rotates the follower 28for the other plunger 1 will move past the projection 24 and this otherplunger will in turn be quickly projected from the cylinder 1 andreturned. It will be noted that by interconnecting the two followers 20,2| through the link I1 a positive cam motion is provided to cause thequick projection and retraction of each plunger 1, 8 in turn.

The stapling cylinder 2 is secured to a shaft 2' and the shaft 2' isprovided with a gear 2 in mesh with a gear 5' on the shaft 5, and thegear 2 is also in mesh with a gear 3' secured to the die cylinder 3referred to, this gearing causing the various cylinders I, 2 and I torotate with equal peripheral speeds. The cylinder 2 is provided withstapling plungers 26, 21 which are slidable radially in recesses 28, 29formed in the cylinder, the ends of the plungers'26, 21 and the recesses28, 29 constituting staple forming recesses: these plungers 26, 21 areoperated in an exactly similar manner by a positive cam mech- .anism ashas been described for the plungers 1,

8 on the cylinder I so that each plunger 26, 21 (which is normallywithin the periphery of the cylinder 2) is moved up to the periphery ofthe cylinder once in each rotation. In view of the similarity of theparts, it.is believed to be sufficient to indicate those parts of thecam mechanism for the plungers 26, 21 which correspond to the alreadydescribed parts for the plungers 1, 8 with an index, it being howevernoted that the plate 22 which carries the cam rings 22, 22 is common tothese rings.

The die cylinder is provided with two die blocks 45, 46 formed in a wellknown manner with grooves 41, 48 which operate to bend over the legs ofa U-shaped staple.

The wire feeding mechanism M operates to feed wire to between thecylinders and for this purpose the mechanism comprises wire feedingrolls III, II one of which is fast with a ratchet wheel 20 engaged by apawl 82 on an arm 23 connected by a link 24 to a disc 35 fast with agear 86 in mesh with a gear 31 on the shaft 5. Hence as the shaft 6rotates, the disc 35 imparts an angular motion to the arm 24 which inturn causes the pawl 82 to rotate the rolls 28, 3| when it is moved inone direction and to slide over the ratchet wheel when it is moved inthe reverse direction. To sever a length of wire from the strip as it isfed, the wire indicated at 38 passes through a feed aperture in a block38 and on this block is mounted a wire severing device constituted by ablade 48 pivoted at H to the block: this blade has a severing part 42which passes over the edge of the block (see Figure 4) and has aprojection 48' adapted to be engaged by one or other of two strikers 43,44 secured to 86 The cam ring 22 is so positioned that the plungers 1, 8are caused by the projection 24, to be quickly projected in the mannerdescribed from the cylinder I when the plungers successively registerwith one of the recesses 28, 29 in the cylinder 2. The cam ring 22' isso positioned that the plungers 26, 21 are caused quickly to be moved upto the periphery of the cylinder 2 (and back again) when the plungerssuccessively register with the grooves. 41, 48 in the die blocks 45, 46.It may here be noted that regarding the operation as a whole, the camring 22 operates rather later than the cam ring 22'.

' It will'now be seen that as one or other of the plungers 1, 8 isprojected from the periphery of the cylinder I when the plungerregisters with one or other recess 28, 29, a length of wire which hasbeen fed between the cylinders I, 2 will be punched into the recessagainst the end of the plunger 26 or 21 to form the familiar U-shapedstaple. It will be noted that the strikers 43, 44 are positioned toengage the projection 48' on the wire severing blade at this time sothat the plunger 1 or 8 operates on a severed length of wire. It willalsobe observed that as the stapling forming plungers 1, 8 are notoperated by their cam ring 22 until just after the stapling operationhas been effected, the plunger 26.0r 21 will be in position to form abase against which the staple forming plunger I or 8 operates to punchthe staple.

A staple so formed is then carried round with the stapling cylinder 2until the plunger 26 or 21 which'is below the staple is in register withone or other groove 41, 48, the legs of the staple being radial andslightly below the periphery of the cylinder 2. The plunger 26 or 21 isthen operated to punch the preformed staple through the webs W and thegroove 41 or turn over the'legs of the staple.

48 operates to ge v 3 stapling mechanism to insert a longitudinal sta-As this operation is timed to occur when the stapling plunger is inregistration with media,

the staple, the webs W passing; between the stapling and die cylinders2, 8 and the die 45 or 46 on the die cylinderl will be relatively atrest. I

It will be observed that it is, with the construc tion described,necessary to have rapid movements of the forming plungers I, I andstapling plungers 26, 21 in order to take advantage of the temporaryconditions of relative rest when the forming plunger 8 and recess 28move into register and when the stapling plunger 21 and die 45 move intoregister. This rapid movement is, however, beneficial for it has beenfound that on the one hand the staple when formed with a quick action isless liable to tend to return towards its original shape after havingbeen forced into shape, and on the other hand is less liable to bedistorted when being forced through a number of paper webs.

To facilitate the positioning of the staple within the recesses 28, 29the walls of these recesses and the outer end of the plungers 28, 21Which constitute the base of therecesses are grooved as indicated at 49,50 to receive the staple forming wire more or less snugly. In additionto facilitate the forming of a staple by the plungers l, 8 theseplungers are as shown in Figure 2 backed off at i.

In order to provide for adjustment between the stapling and diecylinders I, 2 and 3 to accommodate varying thicknesses of webs W to bestapled, the bearings for the shafts 5, 2' for the cylinders l, 2 arecarried in brackets 52 pivotally mounted at 53 on a part 54 secured tothe frame 54' of the machine framing: the bracket 52 has an adjustingbolt 55 by adjustment of which the bracket,

52 can be rocked to vary the clearance between the cylinders 2 and 3 anda clamping bolt 56 passing through an arcuate slot 51 in the part 54 andscrewing into the bracket 52 being provided to clamp the bracket 52 inthe desired position.

Adjustment of the time of operation of the cam rings 22, 22' is providedfor by connecting the cam rings to the pplate 23 through bolts 58, 58'which pass through arcuate slots 59, 59', the slots permitting the rings22, 22' to be angularly adjusted to vary the time of operation thereof.Similarly, the strikers I3, 44 are adjustable anguiarly on the cylinderto vary their times of operation, the strikers being for this purposeformed with arcuate slots 50 through which pass clamp ing screws 6|.

It will be appreciated that any other convenient form of staplepreforming mechanism can be employed. Hence, the usual staple-forminghorn could if desired be employed, provided that the staple when formedis arranged with the ends of its legs below the periphery of thestapling cylinder before passing into register with the webs.

While the mechanism described could be located at any convenient zone inthe path ofthe web, it is convenient to locate the cylinders at the headof the former folder when such is employed to form a longitudinal foldin the webs, the fold being along the longitudinal line of the staples.

In such a case, the die cylinder 3 could constitute the usual roller atthe head of the former which is indicated at 62 (see Figure 5) theseformers and their operation being well understood by those skilled inthe art.

It may be observed that while from the foregoing, the mechanism inaccordance with the invention has for its primary purpose to enable aple, the mechanism could equally well ployed for inserting transversestaples. In this case, and referring to the particular constructiondescribed, the staple wire would be fed at right angles to the directionin which it is fed for a longitudinal staple so that the staple formingplunger would form a U shaped staple lying in a plane parallel with theaxis of rotation of the stapling cylinder.

It will be apparent that the distance between successive longitudinalstaples (l. e. the pitch of the staples) will depend upon the diameterof the stapling and die cylinders 2, 3 and also upon the number of diesand stapling plungers in each cylinder. It is generally necessary tohave a product stapled at two points and the arrangement of parts shownin the drawings is arranged to eifect this by having the circumferentiallength of the stapling and die cylinders 2, 3 equal to the requiredlength of product and to have in these cylinders two stapling plungers26, 21 and two dies 45, 48 and also to provide the cylinder I with twoplungers I, 8.

It may here be observed that the term cylinder employed in thespecification and in the annexed claims is .employedin the manner commonin the printing machine art to denote rotatable parts of generallycylindrical form and does not necessarily denote a cylinder in themathematical sense.

What we claim is:

1. Web stapling mechanism for stapling a plurality of continuouslymoving webs with staples having their lengths in the direction of travelof the web comprising a staple forming cylinder. 21 stapling cylinder, adie cylinder, means supporting the stapling cylinder with its peripheryadjacent the staple forming cylinder and the die cylinder, meanscontinuously advancing the webs to be stapled between the stapling anddie cylinders, means continuously rotating the staple forming and diecylinders in one direction, means continuously rotating the staplingcylinder in the opposite direction, the directions being such that theperipheries of the stapling and die cylinders be emmove in the samegeneral sense as the webs, and means causing the stapling cylinder toco-act at one point in its rotation with the staple forming cylinder tovform a staple within said stapling cylinder with its legs disposed apartin the circumferential direction thereof and at a later point toregister with the die cylinder and project the preformed staple throughthe webs with its length in the direction of travel thereof.

2. Rotary stapling mechanism for stapling a plurality of continuouslymoving webs with staples having their length in the direction of travelof the webs, the said mechanism comprising a staple forming cylinderhaving a male staple forming member, a die cylinder having a die forclenching the legs of a staple, a staple cylinder whicfiis contiguousthe forming and die cylinders, and has a female staple forming member tocooperate with the male forming member to form a staple contained withinthe periphery of the stapling cylinder and with its legs disposed apartin the circumferential direction of the stapling cylinder, means to feedstaple forming wire in a tangential direction between the staple formingand stapling cylinders, means timed to cause the male member quickly toforce a length of wire into the female member when the members roformedstaple quickly from the stapling cylinder when the staple moves in thecontinued rotation of the stapling cylinder into register with the dieon the die cylinder, whereby the legs of the staple will penetrate websled between the stapling and die cylinders and be turned over by the dieon the die cylinder.

3. Mechanism as claimed in claim 2 and in which the staple formingcylinder is hollow and the means timed to cause the male member to forcea length of wire into the female member, includes a camming projectionprovided on the interior periphery of said forming cylinder.

4. Mechanismras claimed in claim 2 and in which the stapling cylinder ishollow and the means timed to cause the female member to force theformed staple from the stapling cylin-' der, includes a cammingprojection provided on the interior periphery of said stapling cylinder.

5. In a web stapling mechanism for applying to a plurality of movingwebs staples having their length disposed in the direction of the travelof the webs, a staple forming cylinder having a slidable male stapleforming member thereon, a eta-- pling cylinder having a slidable femalestaple forming member thereon to cooperate with said male staple formingmember to form a staple in said stapling cylinder with its legs disposedapart in the circumferential direction of the stapling cylinder, andmeans to actuate said male stapling member to form a staple.

6. In a web stapling mechanism for applying to a plurality of movingwebs staples having their length disposed in the direction of the travelof the webs, a staple forming cylinder having a slidable male stapleforming member thereon, a stapling cylinder having a slidable femalestaple forming member thereon to cooperate with said male staple formingmember to form a staple in said stapling cylinder with its legs disposedapart in the circumferential direction of the staplin cylinder, means toactuate said male staplinl member to form a staple, means to actuatesaid female staple forming member to force the formed staple from saidstapling cylinder, and a die cylinder having a staple closing diethereon to cooperate with said female staple forming member to close aformed staple as it is forced thereby from said stapling cylinderthrough webs to operate said member at 'one pointin the rotation of thestapling cylinder, a. die cylinder having a die to turn over the legs ofa staple, the webs to be stapled passing between the stapling and diecylinders, and additional means operating to force a formed staple fromthe stapling cylinder at a later point in the rotation thereof when thestaple moves into register with the die on the die cylinder, the legs ofthe staple penetrating the webs and being turned over by the die.

CECIL GEORGE QUICK. REGINALD WILLIAM FOWLES.

